My only grip with the episode is that the writers are placing all of Regina’s evil deeds on the shoulders of other people. First it was Snow, then it was Rumpel manipulating her, then it was Jefferson, then it was Dr. Frankenstein. It’s like the writers are trying to sweep all of Regina’s past evil deeds under the rug by blaming other characters, and it’s not realistic. It’s getting tiring and it’s not a good way to redeem someone. In order to redeem someone, you have to accept responsibility for your evil deeds and face them. Not simply chalk it all up to other people. A good amount of Regina past evil deeds have been officially placed on the shoulders of other characters.
You nailed it. I love Regina, I really do. But the way in which the writers are going about her redemption arc is leaving me a bit empty. I’m not buying that all her sins are the fault of others. I can kind of understand Rumpel being partly to blame since he needed her for the curse, but adding Jefferson and Dr. Whale to the list is too much. In fact, this is a problem I’m having with both of our villains’ redemption arcs. Regina’s sins are being swept under the rug by blaming others, and the writers are making Rumpel TOO evil. I love seeing him make small changes for Belle and Baelfire, but his flashbacks are too harsh. It’s like the writers feel that the only way to redeem Regina is by making Rumpel look worse.
So, now we have this dilemma of one villain having zero blame and the other with too much blame. I liked how they were last season. They were pretty equal in the evil department and they we’re the perfect mix of good and bad. But now, it looks like the writers are trying to make up for Regina’s sorry excuse for becoming evil by placing all the blame on Rumpel, Jefferson, Dr. Whale, Snow and Cora. It’s too much, and it’s lazy storytelling.
Ugh, sorry but that was really eating away at me. I enjoyed the episode as whole, but that was too much for me to accept.